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CD: Lieder by Wolf and Brahms

This is a noble recording, but only if you take it in several doses, otherwise you might succumb to the melancholy which was Brahms's regular state, or even the more desperate condition into which Wolf descended. They were contemporaries, but their allegiances were diametrically opposed: Wolf a passionate Wagnerian, Brahms a self-conscious member of the Classical tradition. The songs on this disc show them as close as they ever got, settings of poems and texts of almost unrelieved earnestness and gravity. Alastair Miles launches his recital with Wolf's titanic Prometheus, sounding like Wotan at the end of his tether. The next song, The Limits Of Mankind, also Wolf, takes us to the opposite pole: ' a small ring is the limit of our life'. This pair makes an ideal coupling, and with the Three Poems Of Michelangelo, Wolf's last and profoundest utterances, show him in his darkest light.

The first set of Brahms is, by contrast, peaceful and even contented. The CD finishes with the Four Serious Songs, from the end of his life, ranging from the anguish of Oh Death, how bitter you are to the exalted setting of Corinthians I, verses 1-13. To my mind Brahms's music fails to rise to the sublimity of Paul's text, but Miles, here as throughout, uses his powerful, truly bass voice to magnificent effect. And the accompaniments of Marie-Noëlle Kendall provide the perfect support for what is a most impressive and elevating sombre disc.

Performance: 5 stars.

Michael Tanner, BBC Music Magazine

The album title Lieder by Wolf and Brahms doesn’t suggest any thematic rationale for the choice of songs, but everything in this well planned program is about life’s limits and struggles—death, sorrow, solitude, revenge, longing for love, world-weariness, and the afterlife—presented in alternating groups of songs by the two composers, including three Wolf settings of Michelangelo poems in German translation and Brahms’s Four Serious Songs.

It’s a sombre and sober program and Miles has an ideal basso cantabile voice for low voice songs. His strong bottom notes and his rich tonal color emphasize the darkness, bleakness, and weightiness of the songs in a way that commands attention.

Wolf’s setting of Goethe’s Prometheus begins the recital boldly. As Natasha Loges remarks so aptly in her excellent notes, “These testosterone-driven 174 bars threaten to overwhelm the limits of the genre with their tumult.?Kendall immediately establishes her mastery of the vivid accompaniment and Miles uses just the right snarly tone to express the protagonist’s indignant raging against the gods.

Two other substantial Goethe settings by Wolf follow. In Grenzen der Menschheit Miles tempers his voice in resignation to life’s transience, and Kendall’s well-judged pacing of the postlude seals the message.

Everything about this recital is commendable. While his reading of Brahms’s Feldeinsamkeit is more muscular than Fischer-Dieskau’s sublimely floated approach, it is still a convincing reading. Whether it is through employing an operatic approach in Prometheus or bringing a gently introspective expression toAlles Endet, Was Entstehetin the second Michelangelo song Miles always elucidates the text in a convincing manner.

There are other fine recordings of Brahms’s Four Serious Songs, but there is none I would choose over this. After singing of life’s sorrows, the program comes to a glowing conclusion with the final lines of Wenn Ich mit Menschen affirming that in spite of everything untoward in life “now are left Faith, Hope, and Love, these three: but Love is the greatest of them?

I’ve long admired this artist’s singing but never more than here. Kendall’s accompaniment is everything you could hope for. With such gifted collaboration this is extraordinarily moving music-making—and the recorded sound is first rate. The notes point out aspects of the personal relationship between Wolf and Brahms and the thematic connections between their songs.

Robert Moore, American Record Guide

A nobly sung recital, confirming that the leading English operatic basso cantante is also a Lieder singer of intelligence and insight.

Gramophone

After the 174 bars of hectic introduction to Wolf's Prometheus, Miles's voice bursts into the first line of the song with a vengeance. And so it continues through the programme - a rich and resonant tone, even throughout its easy range, excellent diction and a strong identification with the text. Marie-Noëlle Kendall's accompaniment matches her singer all the way and she seizes her opportunities to show her formidable technique without unbalancing the relationship.

Francis Muzzo, OperaNow

The clashing opening chords of Wolf's Prometheus launch this recital, powerfully pounded by pianist Marie-Noëlle Kendall. Alastair Miles does not hold back in Prometheus's condemnation, except that in the third verse he uses a more lyrical tone and legato... By employing mezza voce and delivering the long lines with good breath control, Miles gives a more human feel to Grenzen der Menschheit (nice postlude from Kendall). Being on fine form vocally for this recital he encompasses Der Sänger clearly. Wolf's gloomy opening lines [Michelangelo Lieder] make way for outgoing expression, to which Miles and Kendall build exultantly... in the next song. Alles endet, was entstehet, Miles conveys an emptiness, very effectively managed by reducing the voice and draining much of its rich tone. In the third and final sonnet... the richness of Miles's tone is back on show. Miles tells the story (Verrat) in mighty voice, enjoyable to hear in itself. From the start to the finish of this CD, Kendall works well with Miles, from the gentle to the unrestricted, and he is in very good voice, all in a clear acoustic.

John T Hughes, International Record Review

Miles gives us a superb combination of full voice and text. Throughout the disc his diction is admirably vivid and it is clear that for all the power of his voice, for Miles performing these songs is as much about the text. The result in Prometheus is a big-boned, vibrant tour de force... Verrat... he gives a vividly dramatic performance, bringing out the narrative of the story as the ballad setting develops from apparent simplicity to greater complexity... These are all richly satisfying performances, with Miles combining a strong feeling for the text with dramatic intensity of voice, all allied to Kendall's fine piano.

Robert Hugill, PlanetHugill.com

After the 174 bars of hectic introduction to Wolf's Prometheus, Miles's voice bursts into the first line of the song with a vengeance. And so it continues through the programme - a rich and resonant tone, even throughout its easy range, excellent diction and a strong identification with the text. Marie-Noëlle Kendall's accompaniment matches her singer all the way and she seizes her opportunities to show her formidable technique without unbalancing the relationship.

Francis Muzzo, OperaNow

The clashing opening chords of Wolf's Prometheus launch this recital, powerfully pounded by pianist Marie-Noëlle Kendall. Alastair Miles does not hold back in Prometheus's condemnation, except that in the third verse he uses a more lyrical tone and legato... By employing mezza voce and delivering the long lines with good breath control, Miles gives a more human feel to Grenzen der Menschheit (nice postlude from Kendall). Being on fine form vocally for this recital he encompasses Der Sänger clearly. Wolf's gloomy opening lines [Michelangelo Lieder] make way for outgoing expression, to which Miles and Kendall build exultantly... in the next song. Alles endet, was entstehet, Miles conveys an emptiness, very effectively managed by reducing the voice and draining much of its rich tone. In the third and final sonnet... the richness of Miles's tone is back on show. Miles tells the story (Verrat) in mighty voice, enjoyable to hear in itself. From the start to the finish of this CD, Kendall works well with Miles, from the gentle to the unrestricted, and he is in very good voice, all in a clear acoustic.

John T Hughes, International Record Review

Miles gives us a superb combination of full voice and text. Throughout the disc his diction is admirably vivid and it is clear that for all the power of his voice, for Miles performing these songs is as much about the text. The result in Prometheus is a big-boned, vibrant tour de force... Verrat... he gives a vividly dramatic performance, bringing out the narrative of the story as the ballad setting develops from apparent simplicity to greater complexity... These are all richly satisfying performances, with Miles combining a strong feeling for the text with dramatic intensity of voice, all allied to Kendall's fine piano.

Robert Hugill, PlanetHugill.com

Manon, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Best of all, the inky bass of Alastair Miles sends shudders down the spine in the fierce morality of his presence as the Comte des Grieux.

Hilary Finch, The Times

Alastair Miles as Des Grieux (senior) was not just in fine voice; he brought a sureness of touch to every phrase.

Sebastian Scotney, TheArtsDesk.com

Alastair Miles sketches in Des Grieux's respectable father with acumen.

The Stage

The strong bass of Alastair Miles, as the Comte des Grieux, particularly in Act Four, is patriarchial (sic) judgement incarnate, crashing down on his son, the Chevalier, and on Manon.

Sarah Stewart, Londonist.com

The supporting cast is equally strong, with outstanding turns from Alastair Miles as des Grieux Senior.